Are these safe tires to install?

[Chris B.]

Our Volvo XC70 needs new tires and the factory stock tires are V rated Pirelli Scorpions. Our local Volvo reapir shop reccomends Toyo Versados. They say they have installed lots of them and customers seem to like them. I looked up The Toyo Versado in my size(215/65/16) and they are T rated with a 98 load rating. Are these a good choice considering the stock tires were V rated( not sure on load rating for the Pirelli as I found several ratings on this tire in my size).
The GVWR isaprox 5,000 lbs on the XC70 and a tire rated at 98 is 1653 lbs so 4 tires = a total of 6612 lbs. V rated tires can handle speeds up to 149 MPH and T rated will handle 118 MPH. My car weighs less then 6612 lbs and I don't drive even close to 118 mph so the Toyo tires should be good to go, right?

 

[Colt45ws]

It should have the factory load rating on the door sticker.

 

[CapriRacer]

Are they safe?

Well, they are LESS safe than what you are driving on now for 2 reasons:

1) The greater the capability of the tire, the less likely the tire is to fail. This applies not only to load, but speed and grip as well.

2) As a general rule, the greater the speed rating, the better the grip and the better the car handles.

 

[Trav]

OP.If the tires meet the load specs and you don't exceed their speed rating then of course they are safe.

If the load rating is acceptable then more important IMO is the tread design and weather capabilities for the area you live in.A Z rated summer tire in a Colorado winter isn't going to be as safe as a dedicated T rated snow or all season tire in 6 inches of snow.

If all other aspects are equal higher speed rated tires are only safer at speeds rated above the maximum of the other tire.
The T rated could also provide longer life than the V.

If the tires meet the load rating and have a suitable tread design then i would have no fears about buying them.

 

[Familyguy]

Nothing to worry about at all.

 

[pbm]

Unless you plan on driving 118 mph or greater I think the T rated tires are fine.

 

[d00df00d]

Are they safe? As in, can you run them without worrying that they will instantly explode? Yes.

However, for what it's worth, I've noticed three trends in the tires I and my friends and family have owned:

1. Higher speed rating is almost always better in terms of ride, feel, response, and durability (but not tread wear), regardless of how fast you drive.

2. More expensive tires from bigger brands (Michelin, Bridgestone, Pirelli) are almost always better than their cheaper counterparts (Toyo, Falken, Kumho). Sometimes they are WAY better. The price difference only seems big when you first buy them. It amounts to very little per mile, and is more than worth it every time.

3. When it comes to tires, most people know nothing beyond the marketing materials and their own "butt dyno" impressions. Techs and salesmen usually have an incentive to sell certain models, and they still don't know what they're talking about. By contrast, the manufacturer of your car knows a LOT and did a lot of testing to arrive at its choice of tire. It's kind of like motor oil, actually.

Based on that, my recommendation is to stick with the Pirellis.

 

[ctc]

How much money will you save and is it worth it?

Have you shopped around for tires? In general repair shops don't have as good prices as dedicated tire shops.

 

[eljefino]

The suspension is tuned for V rated which will have stiffer sidewalls etc.

It won't be a dramatic difference like having radials where bias tires used to be, only subtle. For all we know you might like the cushier sloppier ride. The speed rating topic comes up frequently here.

 

[bepperb]

I just bought some H rated tires for my Accord that had V rated tires. I can't say if it's the tire model or the speed rating, but they are noticeably softer. So, if handling is very important to you, at least in my experience it will suffer from going down speed ratings.

Then again, the XC70 is different things to different people, if it's for cruising with kids like my Accord, it might be an improvement.

Safety, I certainly see the point about it being theoretically less safe, but I somewhat doubt that you get to the point where speed and load will cause an unsafe situation. My Highlander has S rated tires from the factory, I don't stay up at night worrying about it.

 

[The Critic]

By no means am I an suspension expert, but wouldn't you think that a vehicle that was equipped with "V" rated tires would have a suspension tune that would take that into consideration?

If you replaced the tire with a less aggressive one, wouldn't it be quite scary if you suddenly began reaching the limits of the tires before the suspension?

 

[Finklejag]

You have a very limited selection in that size. Most of the tires are geared for trucks. The OEM Scorpions seem to be the only "V" rated with a 98 load rating in that size. Most of the tires are "T" rated with a load rating of 98.

The T rated tires won't have a problem with the weight of the car. You will have a different driving experience though. The V rated Scorpions would be more stiffer.

How about the General Altimax HP. It's a "H" rated with a 98 load rating?

 

[benjamming]

...or Firestone Firehawk GT 98H

 

[wantin150]

I wouldn't use them. The V will be a better tire (safer) in all aspects, not just high speed. You may get more choices in a 0+ size. You have 48 choices (Tire Rack) in a 225-60-16 with an H or above, 25 with a V or above.

 

[labman]

I would buy the tire best suited to your driving conditions. Since you say you seldom do extended runs over 118 MPH, I would concentrate on otherthings, perhaps more important to your safety, such as wet road handling and braking. I think it is an outrage people that don't need high speed tires are forced to run them instead of ones better suited to their driving.

Nobody needs speed rated tires in this country. It is all bling.

 

[benjamming]

Originally Posted By: labman
I would buy the tire best suited to your driving conditions. Since you say you seldom do extended runs over 118 MPH, I would concentrate on otherthings, perhaps more important to your safety, such as wet road handling and braking. I think it is an outrage people that don't need high speed tires are forced to run them instead of ones better suited to their driving.

Nobody needs speed rated tires in this country. It is all bling.


Speed Ratings by CapriRacer Are you calling bull on Capri's article?

 

[rpn453]

I'd expect less responsive handling from a T-rated tire compared to a V, and most V-rated tires will have more traction on clean dry pavement. Other than that, I don't consider it a problem if you're not exceeding the speed or load ratings.

I noticed the T-rated Versados have 12/32" tread depth while the H and V-rated versions have only 10/32". I consider the extra tread depth to be a benefit to most drivers, though the traction rating is lower: 700 A B for the T-rated versions and 400 AA A for the H and V-rated versions. Always a compromise.

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
By no means am I an suspension expert, but wouldn't you think that a vehicle that was equipped with "V" rated tires would have a suspension tune that would take that into consideration?

If you replaced the tire with a less aggressive one, wouldn't it be quite scary if you suddenly began reaching the limits of the tires before the suspension?


This relationship between the tire and suspension limits is new to me. I don't even know what suspension limits are in this context. Can you explain this concept further?

If you want the car to behave exactly as it did from the factory, you'd need to buy the OEM replacement tires, which are often junk by most performance measures. Not only that, but many cars with the same suspension are available with many different wheel sizes, tire sizes, and tire types. Performance will certainly be affected by tire choice, but I don't think you're going to cause any scary situations unless you put really grippy tires on a vehicle that is prone to rollovers. No matter how flimsy the tire sidewall is, the XC70 is still going to be more stable than a more tippy vehicle running on taller sidewalls.

 

[Trav]

IMHO.If they were not perfectly safe up to their rated speed the NTSB would pull them or there would be law suits all over the place.We have a 65mph speed limit here even if they were driven 90mph i cant believe there would be any speed related failure.

All this higher rated is safer talk make me want to go buy some V or Z rated tires for my Expedition.I mean with all that weight and blistering mind bending speed the original 265/70R17 113 T rated tires cant be safe,Ford unleashed a death trap on the public roads.

 

[Trav]

Edit..Just kidding about the speed the thing was a pig from day 1 maybe 100mph(down hill with a tail wind) flat out.My grandmothers 1980 MB taxi style 200D is faster.